diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java
index a01beb7fc60..b839002740a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/action/update/UpdateRequest.java
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ public class UpdateRequest extends InstanceShardOperationRequest<UpdateRequest>
         out.writeString(id);
         out.writeOptionalString(routing);
         out.writeOptionalString(script);
-        if (script != null) {
+        if (script != null && out.getVersion().onOrAfter(Version.V_1_3_0)) {
             ScriptService.ScriptType.writeTo(scriptType, out);
         }
         out.writeOptionalString(scriptLang);